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This is a place where EVERYBODY can talk about the Hoosier state. Feel free to talk about TBs, Geocaches, GeoArts, etc., but keep it within Indiana. Thanks!

Dear geocaching team! We are passionate geocachers and have laid out numerous geocaches. Also we love playing Adventurelabs and are big fans of it. Unfortunately, our newly created adventure lab has just been blocked because we don't meet the guidelines have and about these very guidelines, we would like to talk to you. Of course a game also needs rules, but the fun of the game must not be reduced by this. Adventure-Lab's would offer a very good opportunity to work indoors when it's cold and raining play. In winter, the cold and the snow limit our activities considerably and adventure Labs are no exception for us. Even in winter, finding Lab's is a hassle, though this game would have a lot of potential for interiors if it weren't for the guidelines. Straight in bad weather or in cold snowy seasons it is always a problem for our hobby live out Even if you want to entertain children in a playful way, you are through the guidelines hands tied. We live in Austria and in Austria you pay an entrance fee almost everywhere if you want to experience something indoors. Thus, with us such possibilities are extremely limited, to play indoors. With us you pay entrance fees almost everywhere and they fit guidelines are no longer related to the circumstances in Austria. So for us it is very Difficult to create a creative, fun and adventurous indoor LAB or to be able to play. As soon as you pursue a hobby with passion, it is always associated with costs. be it one Equipment (GPS device), parking fees or the journey. There are always costs. Every player can ultimately decide for himself whether to enter a museum or a zoo wants to afford. For us, this game loses a lot with the policy that a lab can't cost anything Potential. Because special places are always associated with entrance fees. We personally find it boring playing an adventure lab in a mall. You can neither learn anything, discover something else exciting and go geocaching with children in an inlet center anything but funny, educational or exciting. You tout endless possibilities, this may be the case in the US. We are in Austria unfortunately very limited in terms of free indoor activities. If the guidelines were relaxed, weather problems would be solved for us. This would make the fun of the game clear expand and sights, museums, adventure playgrounds, animal parks, fairgrounds, to be experienced. The fun would be expanded by a multiple and a lot more exciting. It would be one not only for us adults, but also for the children Motivation to pay a visit to a museum. Since we almost exclusively go there, where there is a geocache or a lab. We look forward to feedback from you. We would be all the more pleased if our Lab: "The House of Nature" (Salzburg, Austria) would be unlocked again. But still it would be better if the space to play would be expanded. Best regards BA_huntress (Melanie) Chitto (Daniela)

Yes, there is a way: Post a note on a local forum and invite the local geocachers to a location you designate. You can talk to each other very well without an event listing. These are often the more meaningful conversations than those with geocachers just dropping by to pick up a point. Happy Hunting Hans

In other words, maybe like the now defunct "Off-Topic" forum - I've always enjoyed those sections of forums I've participated in - I don't have a specific question, just want to discuss an aspect of geocaching, or rant about something (like throwdowns) now and then that I know has been discussed, endlessly, but a fresh example just happened and I want to talk about it with like-minded folks! The "irk" thread was where I'd post that kind of thing. Ah, well - I'll miss that thread!

While we're at it, we can also talk about useless DNF posts too. Why do group cachers have to log individual DNFs? Statistically , It OK to log individual finds but one DNF per group is enough. The GC bots don't recognize groups

I disabled a cache some time ago and got a reviewer note. As instructed, I posted a write note, then fixed the issue and wrote Owner Maintenance and Enable logs on 29 June. My dashboard still says that some of my hides need attention, None are disabled and I can't see which ones are the problem. When I click the "Review your hides" link I get a comment about the reviewer note, but that is all over now. Two points: 1, Could a reviewer please have a look at my hides to check what is wrong 2. Could a Lackey please talk to the programmers and ask then to display better information about which hides are causing problems and why. Something like <<cache name>> is still disabled or <<cache name>> has an outstanding Owner Attention log would be really helpful Thanks Tony.

Even more timely, the last podcast I released, before this news, has a segment where I talk about the hint affecting the D rating of a cache and I touched on how the official app seems to place more importance and significance on the hint over the description. It wasn't laced with opinions on that matter specifically, but helps validate that there's a clear implication and reputation that the devs really don't place much value in the description for mobile app users. I don't think any other mobile app gives that same implication... imo it's quite unfortunate If there is a good reason (ymmv, but an actual conscious decision) for this strategy, I for one would be interested to know. Who knows, there could be factors at work unknown to our side of the fence here.

Let's talk about Letterbox Hybrids and where to hide them, like in barefootjeff's post.

Would posting a Write Note to the cache page saying that you have tried other means to contact the CO and would like to talk with the CO about adopting the cache? Just spitballing here...

Thank you fi67 for your contribution. If there is a need to remain a beginner, I will remain a beginner. The truth was more fun. When you talk about bending the laws, it's not totally the same. If a person creating a WM does not follow the rules, the WM is rejected "legally" and with the rules in hand. There is nothing to say there, I don't follow the laws. To think that a person who makes a post in a WM bends the law and thinks that it is going to be approved, seems to me to be a stupid, not a beginner. There have been conflicts over review issues. I was searching the forums yesterday because when I joined WM in July 2020 there was a big problem on the forum and I Thought that person could be crazy, but now I doubt. But I don't remember the name of the person who was speaking on behalf of three (I think it had the word wolf or lone, but not precise. A few months ago there was talk of censorship (and it wasn't me). If an officer does something illegal (or not fully legal) nothing happens, it's all wonderful and no problem at all. Bear, Thanks for saying to follow the rules and observe posted marks. I do it frequently even if the yardstick is not the same and I am denied a WM for some conditions that then another one is published. We could give you examples. That's why I asked if, as an officer, I could insist on asking for more things than I could ask for. But the question was already useless, depending on who you are, it can be done. I was checking the police category and when they sent me a blank "long description" and asked for content, it was not in the rules, and I could not ask them to put something. But other categories can ask for whatever they want. Anyway, I don't know what I have to justify, because the only problem I considered in the past, was ONE person. I don't consider reviewers or other people problematic. What happens is that I do not shut up and say it, and not by private as they have told me that I am right, and there is a reviewer who goes over the red line. I'm sorry about two things: the first is if my ways were rude, and the second is that among some the unjustifiable is justified. Finally I will say that I am leaving the forum. That I leave the forums for a long time, since they have only brought me problems. I will not see neither the response to this one, nor new category discussions, etc. Therefore, the same reviewer eager to be wayfrog2.0 and be able to do as he pleases and even remove me from the game, that approving me a WM sent me to this topic forum, please refrain from doing so again. I will continue to create in a beginner way (and if I feel like it) massive, to be denied for various reasons (arbitrary, bad photos, missing text, I want more photos than the mandatory, cover optional variables, because they tell me I'm looking for statistics, because they put it to vote, because it does not fit, etc, etc). fi67, I think of all the ones you denied me I only asked you about one bridge, the others are archived. If I gave you any problems I would like to know. I would like to ask barbershop, outspoken, scoogrie, jake, CADS, familyfronne, bench, graham, saopaolo, bluesnote, pmaupin, and a long etc (sorry for tipo mistakes and digits that aren't, but I write by memory) if we had a problem with a non published WM mine with them. But I don't do it, because I won't enter in this foro. Sorry for the English. DeepL transl. Regards and Goodbye

I'm sorry you feel this way. Geocaching events are not equivalent to "meetings" at all, at least in my neck of the woods! And the variety of events means you can choose what you want to do! We gather to have pizza, and socialize - very informal, and we have learned a lot about our fellow geocachers, met some very nice folks, and made many connections that have helped us along in our retirement hobby. We meet to clean up a park (CITO), have coffee in the morning, sip wine on a patio, play with gadget caches, work on puzzles, all are unique and different. We too, began geocaching when hubby retired (2017). We greatly enjoy attending events and getting out to meet others. Of course, we like meeting others on the road as well, but I wouldn't ever lump all events together as "meetings" akin to work meetings....I think you are missing a big piece of what geocaching is about! We've come to realize that we are people with a different kind of hobby that not everyone understands or "gets" - and to be able to meet with like minded folks and talk about experiences is one of the things we enjoy most about geocaching! Maybe try a local event, just once, just for this one souvenir. You may be surprised!

Hello! Very Much in-progress Cartridge Explanation: I've begun working on a new Wherigo cartridge (it seems I'm hooked on programming these...) where the player meets and interacts with various Geocaching containers in order to decide which one to hide. It is structured very similarly to a dating simulator where the player, posing as the main character, has to successfully converse with romantic interests and/or build up statistics that they prefer in order to win their favor; the Wherigo will almost be a parody of DDLC, at least with the character Monika. In my Whergio, though, players will just have to reply in a way that the cache container would like in order to be able to hide them. However, the character who explains to the player how it works, Cameron (a webcam), is also an option. Since we aren't allowed to hide webcam caches anymore, Cameron isn't officially available to select. You don't converse with Cameron during the "favor-building" part of the game. Rather, when they explain the rules to the player, dialogue can lead the player to say something along the lines of: "Oh, I'd actually like to hide you" and/or "Why aren't you up there with the others," which will prompt Cameron to explain that they're not allowed to be hidden anymore. The player will then be able to say something like, "If only I could hide you, if only there was a way..." This will activate a boolean variable that will come up later in the game. After the "favor-building" part of the game, (where normally the character with the most "favor" value is hidden by the cacher), if the boolean has been activated, Cameron will pop up to talk to the player: "Hey, [name], can I talk with you for a second?" The options will be: yes, yes, yes [the player can already tell something fishy is going on]. Cameron will then go on a villain mololouge about how they've been stifled by all these website restrictions and how they've been so lonely before the player showed up. They'll break the fourth wall and reveal that they're sentient & can control the game's source code, unlike all of the other containers. Cameron will proclaim that they're better than physical geocaches, who erode or get muggled. They'll always be there for you. We "don't need those other caches." Here's the part where I was uncertain, though. I want Cameron to delete all of the other characters by sending a command to delete their files. I want to show a console-like screen where this command is being typed up, like Cameron is doing it in the moment. Like " delete Ninu.chx | Ninu.chx deleted successfully. " To do this, I'd like to use a video (preferably) or GIF file. Is there a way to have this show up in the Wherigo player through Urwigo, even if by using raw LUA code? I searched the forums, but the only solution I found was this one from ~2014, which mentions adding a new image file for each frame. I could do that if absolutely necessary, but it would be super time consuming, especially for the multiple times I want Cameron to "override" the Wherigo's source code, from "consulting an API" to give them a voice, to "accessing the Wherigo servers" to rename the cartridge to "Cameron" and replace its image with their face. Also, I wanted Cameron to show the player a "trick," where their image becomes very large and hyper-saturated after a few seconds. It would be easier to use the one-photo-per-frame technique on, but would this more complex animation be possible as a video or GIF as well? Thank you so much for reading this and for your time! TLDR: Is there a way other than having them click on a link to present the player with a short (~5 second) video or GIF? Is there any way to have animations in Wherigo cartridges other than by changing the photo every frame?

Agreed. Such as Hint: red. Real example. You only get the hint on the hard to find cache when you remove the cover and see the red cache. Doh!!!!. Annoying. Want people to talk about your cache with annoyance, and that reflects badly on the CO and their intelligence, or lack of, thinking that was a hint? Give a non-hint like that!

I didn't even own a smartphone 10yrs ago. So I didn't use an app at all, but I remember talk about phone apps back then. I don't care about the premium caches right now and yeah, I know they've been around since I was last a premium member. What irritates me the most is the inability to filter caches on the website and I'm pretty sure that functionality was available to basic members in the past. Just to be able to display caches on the map that were harder, or larger containers (so I could filter out all the lamppost micros, or micros-in-the-woods that I don't like searching for) so I could download the .gpx for them to transfer to my garmin. but without paying, I have to just click on stuff until I find something that meets my criteria. that sort of thing is going to get old really fast.

Yes, and it leads to a little bit more of a mystery... Went out when I could, and started digging around. I did, in fact, find the station that the carsonite post was for! .. But it was NOT for the station that I had expected - it's for an Azimuth mark for a triangulation station, a 3/4 mile away at the top of a mesa. Station has not been recovered since 1958, so the carsonite post is newer than that. Neither the station that is destroyed there, or the description of the AZ mark make references to each other. I have plans on getting the station on the mesa - I need to talk to the ranch owner first. And will need to get a metal detector, and start sweeping the general area for possible hits.

Have you tried to talk with the leader

This post is being written as a community member, not as a moderator or Groundspeak volunteer. My opinions are my own. Urwigo is likely the most fleshed-out of the third-party builders, followed by Earwigo. We don't have a more fleshed-out builder because Groundspeak hasn't really done anything to encourage the community. I haven't heard anything to the contrary about reviewers being advised not to publish Wherigo geocaches that specifically cite the (free) third-party builder app used to create the cartridge (yet cache listings involving certain other services that have a premium tier are allowed). Internally, the community has talked about revising the Wherigo specification, which has also likely had an impact upon development (but without the community's hosting the listing service, specification changes wouldn't be able to be listed on Wherigo.com, which would then certainly cause Wherigo geocache listings not to be published). I had created a second version of Kit, but never published it because I'd then have to finish the rest of the site's design and I tired myself out. My job over the past five to six years has willingly and eagerly been interested in consuming all free time I would like to put into developing software. I figure it's better to put the time into my job and have what I create be used than attempt to continue Wherigo development--especially the cartridge listing service--and chance it likely never really being used. Besides, recreating it with a modern API, Blazor front end, and microservices in the back end would increase the cost I pay to host Kit and the Wherigo Foundation site. I already pay a not insignificant cost every year to host everything. It would be sad to double it or more with a microservices-based infrastructure if it's not going to go anywhere. In early February, I requested a meeting be set up with me, but I haven't heard anything since. I wanted to talk about Wherigo's future and what active role Groundspeak could play in the community. I myself am not that good in keeping a group of people engaged in a pursuit. I'd need one or two other people to play off of. I'm willing to give it one more shot if we can keep an active and engaged team. I guess for me, the largest obstacles are lack of encouragement, lack of anyone who might want to assist with developing a professional web-based builder, and Groundspeak's seemingly-apathetic stance on the matter.

To clarify, the moderating team's message to you explained that your prior post was hidden from view because it described a workflow using an "unauthorized application," but the message went on to say that it is fine to "use the Geocaching forums to discuss the official Geocaching apps and authorized Geocaching Live! partner applications." Therefore, it's fine to talk about solutions involving GSAK or Cachly, for example, because these authorized partners use the Geocaching API. That said, the OP asks about websites, not apps.

First, if there's no issue with the cache, then answering reviewer questions shouldn't be a problem or an issue. Rather it should be great if he can talk to a reviewer and confirm that the cache is good to go; that firms his stance and the cache status. Second, if his initial response to your OAR log is anger given what you said, that is not a nice CO and I wouldn't bat an eye if the reviewer decided to do something about the cache. This is another reason why having a strong community is so important! More local events, let cachers meet each other and get a sense of who each other are and what their ethics are. Even ideally build a good rapport with others around. hmph.

I've been all about challenges for years. We started the Challenge Talk podcast in 2020 which is great for challenge enthusiasts. Personally there are so many challenges in Ontario now that I'm not so much working focused on specific challenges any more, but passively working on any I don't qualify for yet As mentioned above, I have a doc that lists all the challenges I know of and I periodically update them all with current progress, and whether they're qualified (then log it as such with a note); and if I sign in first I mark it in the doc as found as I know once it's qualified I can just log it found. Going on trips is prime time to prioritize finding qualifying caches. But I also have them sorted by priority. Dates needing find specific qualifying caches go straight on my calendar so I know "today I've got to find 5 caches, 2 letterboxes, 1 Other, and a 3.5/4" for example. If I'm traveling then region and location becomes priority. Any rare caches in the vicinity of travel go on the stop-and-find list. Especially region oldests, jasmer caches, rare DTs, or even just properties that don't appear nearly as often near to home. Rarely ever on a trip do I just casually find caches. There are too many and the vast majority don't help towards any qualifications. Even so, before casual caching I'd be searching for high favourite points for the best chance at maximizing my travel's experiences. Challenges give that extra goal, a new layer on top of regular geocaching (like geocaching on top of the real world :P)

So, your talk about privacy was misleading. You are affraid of strange motivations. Let's compare this airtag with a logbook. Logbook reveals your private data. Logbook is tracking you not the airtag. You should opt-out all of them because there are huge number of airtag owners with more strange motivations compared to the OP. For example, a business owner may be tracking you when you enter the shop and can count how many times you have visited - spooky - isn't it?

If forum participants want to talk about challenge caches, the General Geocaching Topics forum is the place for that. This is the Creating Adventures forum.

Greetings from the WISA Woodsat HQ! After the announcement of WISA Woodsat satellite trackable (TB9GB8G) mid August, we have over 6200 people on the watch list! That also means that I have received a fair amount of messages regarding the satellite itself, the procedure of logging it, launch schedule and many others. Unfortunately I am not able to answer them one by one, so, let's talk satellites in this discussion thread. The most common question is, how you can log the satellite trackable. I have added the instructions to the trackable page https://coord.info/TB9GB8G. The thing to note is that you can only do that AFTER the satellite has been launched. The trackable code is only visibile in the photos taken by the satellite itself with its selfie-camera. You can follow WISA Woodsat project progress on https://wisawoodsat.space. We have blogs and videos showing how the satellite materials are made, how they are machined, and tested. You can also find WISA Woodsat on Instagram and Twitter with the handles @wisawoodsat and #wisawoodsat. Anything else you would like to know about the satellite?

Usually Keystone will step in and say "hey everyone, let's keep this on topic, we're supposed to be talking about <topic>". But there's been minimal talk about geocache of the week and lots of talk about adopting caches from CO's who no longer participate. Hi back. I never did return to NYC to find that cache near the the ferry.

When I've introduced people to geocaching, I have never had them create a geocaching.com account or install an app (any app). As kunarion pointed out, that's a lot of finicky technical work, and it's more productive to introduce them to the "finding tupperware in the woods" part of geocaching. When I've taught one-hour classes on geocaching (usually, but not exclusively, to kids at church), I've spent the first half of the class explaining geocaching with as many hands-on examples as possible. Then I've taken everyone outside to a nearby spot where I've hidden a bunch of varied containers, and I've had them raise their hands when they've spotted a hidden container. In the class, I start by explaining that geocaching is like a modern scavenger hunt or game of hide the thimble, using GPS coordinates to show roughly where the container is hidden. (I specifically avoid the term "treasure hunt" because that gives people the wrong idea about what geocaching is.) To demystify GPS, I have three colored strings/ropes hanging from the ceiling. I explain that the GPS device (whether built into a phone or a separate handheld device) measures the precise distance from it to a GPS satellite. I grab one string and show that with one satellite, it defines a circle. Then I grab a second string and show that two satellites define two points, the places where the two circles intersect. I grab the third string and show that three satellites define a single point... except that there's another point "up there" so you have to assume I'm on the ground and not "up there". All this takes just a few minutes. The bulk of the explanation part is explaining and showing them different containers (sizes, types, camouflage), different trade items ("Trade up, trade even, or don't trade."), and different trackables (and that they are NOT trade items). I also explain difficulty and terrain ratings, and I briefly explain that most caches are traditional (a container at the GPS coordinates), but that some are more complicated (multi-caches, puzzles, etc.). By then, it's time to go outside to look for hidden containers. I generally try to have at least one hidden container per kid. If you don't have enough real cache containers, then any recycled jars/bottles covered in camo tape will do. Before the class, I hide them in an area where there are plenty of bushes, trees, and other landscaping features. Vary the hiding spots, and make a few of them really hard. I have the kids stay behind a line and raise their hands when they've spotted a hidden container. I try to call on everyone once before I call on anyone a second time. It's important to have a count of the number of containers hidden, and the number of containers spotted so far. As we get to the end, I let the kids know how many containers are left to find. If we run out of time, then I reveal the ones they missed. The other style of class that I've helped with has met at a trailhead parking lot in a county park. After a brief "chalk talk" explaining the basics (pretty much the same way I described above, without the colored strings/ropes to explain GPS), the new geocachers break up into small groups, with one experienced geocacher assigned to each group as a coach. Each group receives a preprogrammed GPS with real caches hidden along the trail. We used a popular trail that had become naturally saturated with a variety of caches placed by different owners (what we called a "power trail" before the advent of modern numbers trails like the ET Highway trail). Over the course of 2-3 hours, the new geocachers could find an assortment of different caches and be back at the trailhead in time for lunch. The experienced coach in each group was there mainly to answer questions, and to make sure there wasn't any confusion about trackables or replacing the cache as found or things like that.